COELIAC DISEASE: WHEN A FOOD PROTEIN TURNS VILLAIN

Dr. Bharat Verma

Abstract

Coeliac disease is a peculiar digestive disorder that occurs in reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, oats and hundreds of foods made with these grains. The body’s immune system reacts to the gluten and causes damage to the intestine.             More common among the people of West Bengal, Punjab and Northwest India and widely prevalent in several part of the world, the diseases is caused by loss of intestinal villi-the tiny, finger-like protrusions which project into the bowel cavity and serve to absorb nutriments. Coeliac disease is a lifelong disorder. However, its treatment is fairly straightforward; it simply requires doing away with all gluten-containing foods. This requires a shift to rice, corn, sorghum (jowar), and millet (bajra) as the staples in the diet. In the initial phase of treatment, people with coeliac sprue require supplemental therapy to help fix the nutritional deficiencies. The disease carries an excellent prognosis if it is diagnosed early and the person adheres to a life-long gluten-free diet. Growth and development in children proceed normally if care is taken to withdraw gluten. Even in adults, once the diet is gluten-free, the intestinal absorptive functions returns to normal, and almost all ill effects of the disease disappear.

Keywords: Gluten, Non Gluten, Food and Villi.